Chapter 32
So Not Happy Together.
What Astarii had was no understanding of was the Human spirit. Years of being ensconced in Darnassus around her own kind left her with limited understanding of little more then her own race. So she was completely taken aback, when Braelyn broke the hold Astarii had cast on her mind.
Braelyn was the opposite. She had made it a point to learn of others through the whole of Azeroth. This was a trait passed on from her parent's natural good will and experiences. Goldenleaf was right. This woman was a nut job of the highest order to try, and kill her outright. Braelyn wanted so badly to put her down like a mad dog. A hand did even come to the bow on her back. Then instead she ran out of the water and let her fist fly. Talking in the time honor tradition of physical violence.
Astarii fell back. She rose her hands up to protect her face from the little fists that flew up at her. "How dare you strike one of Elune's own?"
Braelyn just jumped on her. Grabbing the Priestess by the robes and shaking her hard. "How dare you try and drown me!"
"I did nothing of the sort! You are assaulting me for no reason." Astarii started to cry. The large tears rolling down over her face like little diamonds.
"Hit her again please, Brae." The sound of Goldenleaf's voice causing Braelyn to turn around. "Because maybe you can knock some sense into her!"
The two women staring over at the sight of Goldenleaf as he bore witness to their altercation. There stood the tall Night Elf. Arms crossed over his chest, a look of pure amusement on his features.
"Oh, Goldenleaf!" Astarii pushed Braelyn off her easily. Coming to her feet she ran to throw herself against his chest. She wrapped her long arms around him, and looked up in complete misery. "I have no idea why she attacked me like that. She is a vicious little creature."
Goldenleaf worked at trying to pry Astarii off him. "But that is what I like about her. You, Astarii, are such a kind sweet soul. There is no way you could last in my world like that."
"What?" The silver eyes blinked. Trying to understand what Goldenleaf was saying to her. If there wa something she was missing, anything, she must know. Whatever it took to win his love. That was all that mattered to her in the entire world. She didn't care what length she had to go to achieve it. "What are you saying?"
"That I need a blood thirsty killer at my side?" Goldenleaf informed her bluntly. "It is not like Darnassus out there at all. Things try to harm you with no provocation, and I could never imagine ensconcing myself here in our home city for the whole of my life. I need adventure. Freedom. Sorry, Astarii, dear, but you embody everything but those qualities."
Astarii shook her head in fierce denial. Why did it always turn out this way with him. It made her want to cry. "But I can do that!" She confessed. "I was mind controlling her into the water. She can not come between us."
Goldenleaf chuckled. "Now, Astarii,you are a Priestess of Elune. An Angel of mercy, how could you ever do such a thing to Braelyn. It's not acceptable of your order."
"But I did, and I would do far worse if you asked it of me. Goldenleaf, I love you so very much for so long. Please just listen to me." She turned to look at the furious human. "Tell him. Tell him what I did. Make him believe me."
"That you tried to drown me using mind control? It was kind of hard to miss." Braelyn reached up to wring out her hair. The motion proof enough of what transpired. Although Braelyn was not about to help the Night Elf in her pursuit of Goldenleaf now. All possibility of that went out when the spell was cast.
"See, even she confirms it. Take me with you, Goldenleaf. Let's leave Darnassus, and I will happily travel with you." Astarii grabbed hold of his arm and shook it with frantic desperation.
"But then how will you train? Right mother?" Goldenleaf cast a glance over to see the shocked Tyrande standing nearby. "Because we all know that cold blooded murder is against what the Sisters of Elune stand for."
Astarii paled as she saw her mentor staring at her with horrified eyes. "You set me up."
"I do what I must for Darnassus." Goldenleaf leaned close, and whispered in her ear. "And for the record, I never liked you. Never. I can't stand how fake you are, and I don't even find you somewhat pretty." The words use like a dagger in a very real attempt to destroy her fanciful dream.
"Astarii, get to the Temple, now." Tyrande pointed in the direction of Elune's Shrine. "We need to talk over your actions today very seriously."
Astarri's shoulders dropped and she ran off in a fit of heart broken tears. Tyrande sighing deeply and cast a tired look at her son. Then she turned away to follow Astarii.
"Will you break my betrothal now?" Goldenleaf called after his mother.
Tyrande stopped for a moment. She went stiff and turned in a harsh motion. "We will discuss it when you return the next time, Golden."
"Elune, DAMN IT!" Goldenleaf just collapsed on the ground and buried his head in his hands. "What is it going to take to free myself? Am I going to have to off myself to be free?"
"I don't believe this. Your mother just saw her try and kill me, didn't she?" Braelyn knelt next to Goldenleaf. Not knowing what to say to him. She watched as Tyrande faded from sight.
"Yes." The word was muffled in his hands. It still sounded like the moan of a dying animal.
Braelyn patted his head gently. What could she do to ease his anxiety and upset. "And she still wants you to marry Astarii?"
"Yes." He said just as muffled as before.
"Why? It makes no sense." Braelyn put her arms around him. A cheek resting against his shoulder in a small effort to be supportive of his plight.
Goldenleaf sighed and looked up at the sky. "Because, as my father so expertly pointed out, they are alike. Both of them crazy as the night in Darnassus is long."
"I think we should go back to Stormwind." Braelyn gave him a tight hug, and thanked the Light for the loving parents she possessed. She knew full well that if the positions were reverse she would have given in to her parents long before. The amount of determination Goldenleaf has displayed for the last thousand years was astounding. What he would have to show in the future was beyond comprehension.
Goldenleaf nodded sadly. "We need to get back to Stromgarde in case the Forsaken get any ideas to march on Arathi again, anyway." He stood up reaching down a hand to his friend. "And Braelyn, thanks for letting me use you as bait. I knew it was a long shot, pointing out her insanity to my mother, but I had to try."
"Wait, You knew she would try and kill me?" Braelyn stared up with large round eyes.
"Of course. I told you Astarii was a psychotic whack job." Goldenleaf pulled his hand back as if the Human might bite it. He had forgotten that he had never told her his ultimate objective during this visit.
Brealyn scrambled up to her feet with incoming anger. "No you didn't!"
"Really? My bad." The druid pulled his shoulders up to his ears, and ducked down in a protective curl.
"I am going to kill you Goldenleaf!" She started pummeling the top of his chest and shoulders with slaps. Jumping trying to box his ears for what he had done to her.
Goldenleaf turned into a cat and rushed for the portal. "MEOW!"
O0O0O0O0O0O0O0
You need to sign the document." Gracie told her daughter.
Fox stretched as she came awake. "What are you talking about, mom?" The brown eyes thick with sleep as she tried to focus.
"She is talking about the marriage documents I had drawn up. The ones signed by Greymane and myself." Varian's voice brought Fox up right.
"What are you doing here, Varian?" Fox gazed over to where Varian stood with her father.
Myles walked across the room to come to her daughters side. "Do not think you are being ganged up on here, Eloise. I already told the both of them that no one will be forcing you to do anything. I will not allow it."
"Myles, think of her baby. You were the one most upset when you found out they were not married." Gracie reminded him in a rushed breath.
Fox came to her feet at that. Rushing up to push her finger in Varian's face. "You told them. They are my parents. You had no right. It should have been my news to give when I found the moment for it."
Varian smiled slow. He put his arms around her, and pecked a kiss to her lips. He was becoming use to this kind of reaction from her. So different from the little Rogue in Lion's Landing. "Fox, dear, I trust you to tell them just about never. I am sure you would reported it post haste to Shaw, though."
"King has a point." Gracie grouched as she cast a look around the room. She reached down to take up the blanket on the chair and fold it.
"There is one thing I do agree with him on." Myles ran a hand through his hair. "You will be much safer in the Keep with his Majesty. I happen to know full well that I can not protect you from the Nobles here on my own."
"You think they would still seek to harm her? The very idea is ridiculous. She is Lady Lothar now. If you add that to the fact she is carrying my child, who would dare to harm her?" Varian asked shortly. "I would kill them out right."
"You see that Myles! The King of Stormwind is in love with our little girl." Gracie sniffled and threw herself in her husbands arms. The sound of happy tears soaking his shirt. "It's more then I ever dared to hope for."
"Awww, Gracie, love. You are getting my shirt wet." Myles held her tight. "But love from him matters not at all to me. It's Eloise that concerns me. Do you love him, child?"
Varian smiled and waited for her to speak. Knowing what truth would be pulled from Fox.
Fox blushed and dipped her head into Varian's chest. A muffled sound no one could make out.
"I did not understand you, Fox. So I am certain your parents did not hear." Varian placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face Myles. "Say it again, so the world can hear."
"You have no idea how very badly I want to say no." Fox leaned her head back and looked up at him
"Stubborn woman, just say it." Varian laughed. It was not her love that had him in doubt.
Fox sighed and looked at her parents. "I have been madly in love with King Wyrnn for a very long time. The fact that he loves me back just destroys my world."
"Then why do you not want to marry him?" Myles asked simply.
"Because I do not want to be his Queen!" Fox admitted. She looked down at the floor.
Varian gave a look of complete confusion, "But you claimed Stromgarde and coronated yourself. I don't understand?"
"Because that is my Kingdom. It belongs to me." Fox crossed her arms. She was trying to explain it in a way it made sense to those around her. "Stormwind is where you control, Varian. I am just here to stand at your side and nod. I hate it. "
"You stood at my side and nodded for years. What is the difference doing it more openly?" He asked her. It was becoming clearer to him what she was objecting to. He just wanted to hear it from Fox. In her own words so that he didn't jump to any wrong conclusions.
"Because it's open! Everyone can see me. Its uncomfortable. Like a wool shirt!" Fox argued back at him. She didn't mind being controlled in the shadows. That did not give her the feeling of being some puppet on a string like being Queen of Stormwind did.
"Oh by the Light is our girl stubborn." Gracie sighed. She didn't understand. To her it would have been a fairy tale fantasy to bask in.
"She makes perfect sense to me." Myles shrugged, as a man who never had anything close to girlish dreams of his own. He was practical and sufficient. Sure, Anduin Lothar had left the gold for Eloise, but every dime that had been spent was for Eloise alone. The bulk of it still in the Stormwind Bank. Every thing he could fund for her daughter, he had. By his own hand he had clothed and fed his daughter. The money for the town house was of the Lothar account, but it was going to be left to Eloise, so it had been acceptable to use if for her betterment then.
Gracie shook her head at her husband. "I am going to get my rolling pin after you, Myles Fulbright. You have to stop catering to her!"
"Don't threaten, my Dad!" Fox called. She went to break up their argument, but Varian pulled her back against him. She looked up in stunned silence.
"Leave them. I was witness to this most of the night, and I find it vastly amusing." Varian leaned over to rub his stubbly cheek against Fox's.
"Ah! Sandpaper." She tried to wiggle away.
O0O0O0O0O0O0O0
Chelinka glared across the room at her new Blood Elf bunk partner. It was clear the Archmage was upset with the way things were going in Stromgarde. "Why should I have to share a room with you? They need to think these things out better."
"Maybe because my new quarters have not been completed yet." Pyrasong snapped back. She was just as displeased. The uppity Mage had been needling her the moment she entered the room."If you don't like being in a room with me, Halduron is still in need of a roommate from what I hear."
"How about you take that space. It's more fitting, considering you would be closer to the ass you kiss." Chelinka pointed out rudely. She climbed over on her bed and crossed her arms and legs in a childish pout. Years of training in Dalaran and Stormwind to be a Master Archmage should have given her some kind of respect in the hierarchy. Now to share a room with an unskilled Paladin? Maybe Pyrasong was used to making due for her Order, but Chelinka was not. She had paid her dues. This was infuriating to the extreme.
"You did not just say that." Pyrasong narrowed her green eyes on Chelinka. It was an honor to serve Rommath and Halduron. She could only assume that the mage was jealous of her connection to the Silvermoon counsel.
"I am going to say so much more. Why don't you cut your losses and go back to Silvermoon. No one wants you here anyway, since King Wyrnn is going to eventually make this an Alliance holding." The Mage threw a pillow at the Paladin.
A shield spell, quickly thrown, had it bounce to the floor. "Like hell he will. I have already heard from a great many here, that Lady Lothar calls the shots in Stromgarde. She has already sent for candidates to be Troll and Tauren Emissaries. You can just deal with my presence for a brief time. It's going to be a few months before the new housing is done. I have already picked my plot, and the style of my home. There is little more I can do about it, or you."
"Do about what?" Braelyn walked into the room. She had a great bag thrown over her shoulder. A small cot folded under her arm.
"Getting out of the irksome Mage's hair!" Pyrasong growled. "Looks like I am stuck with another human as well? Sunwell save me from your horrid kind."
"The barracks has filled up. There are very little beds left. I was told I could squeeze a cot in here." Braelyn frowned over at Chelinka
"Oh no. I cant have that. Need room for the books and reagents you know." Chelinka put her hands up and waved the little Hunter away.
Pyrasong was taken aback at the Mage's efforts to be rid of her own kind. "Why don't you just portal back to the Mage tower in Stormwind every night, and leave the two of us to bunk here."
Chelinka narrowed her eyes on Pyrasong. "Only to port to Irongforge and commute by Gryphon for two hours a day. No thank you. Braelyn you need to find someone else to bunk with. There isn't any room in here."
"But I don't know anyone else." She looked so unhappy the other two women looked away. They could not continue to refuse her if caught staring into those sad eyes.
Goldenleaf knocked on the door, "You know me."
"There you go. Problem solved, you can sleep with Goldenleaf." Chelinka watched as Pyrasong pulled her things out of her trunks.
"What? NO!" Braelyn had a flash of Astarii in her head. She certainly did not want to deal with that one again any time soon.
"She would be sleeping in a stall, because I got my bunk mate, and there is no way I am staying there with him. He said if I didn't like his behavior I could go sleep in the barn and I will." Goldenleaf chuckled in good humor. Being a Druid, anywhere out of the rain was good with him. "But Braelyn can have my bed. More then welcome to it."
"Fine, I will." The Hunter lifted her chin. So what if it was with a man. It was not like anything untoward would be happening anyway.
"It's probably in the male section." Chelinka pointed out.
"No. Officer housing. It's actually more of a two person cottage." Goldenleaf brightened up. He rocked back and forth twiddling his thumbs waiting for the two women to blow a gasket. Seeing as they were sharing a small room meant for one person as it was.
Chelinka scowled, darkly "Officer? Officer!" She scrambled out of her bed. The brown hair flowing behind. "Someone is going to get an earful from me!"
"A cottage? Really?" Braelyn squealed her delight. She did a flying leap into Goldenleaf in a huge hug. "You are the best buddy ever!"
Goldenleaf nodded and allowed the show of affection. "I am kinda awesome that way. But you have not heard who you are going to be sharing with yet."
"Doesn't matter. You hate them, so it's a plus. It's a cottage, another plus." Braelyn put her hand out "Give me the key."
Goldenleaf fished around in his pocket, and dropped the small iron key in her hand. "You want me to take you there, so you don't get lost?"
"Yes!" Braelyn turned to wave at Pyrasong. "Tell Chelinka, when she gets back, I will be around later and we can have dinner."
The two walked out of the barracks together. Goldenleaf was actually humming happily. That was starting to make Braelyn rethink her decisions. Then she saw the cute little house. It already had flowers in the little window baskets. Recently planted even.
"Did you do this?" Braelyn leaned over and inhaled the delicate scent. Pure heaven.
Goldenlaf laughed, "No your new bunk partner did it. I would not be caught dead planting flowers I cant pick for Alchemy potions." Goldeleaf stopped at that. Then looked down at Braelyn. "I forgot. I have to meet someone for a trade."
"Are you dealing drugs again?" Braelyn teased.
"It's Alchemy potions, they are not real drugs. But I have been known to mix a few of those up from time to time accidentally on purpose. Let me know if you need any. Living with him, you might need some good stuff." Goldenleaf looked away and smirked.
Braelyn choked hard at his words, "Are you telling me, you really do deal drugs? No, Goldenleaf, they are bad for people! Someone might get hurt if you play with that sort of thing."
Goldenleaf sighed and shook his head. "I am officially licensed in Stormwind and Darnassus. I can't seem to get my certification in Ironforge. The trainer is never sober enough to test my flasks. Anyway, I got to get going. Have fun. Don't stab anyone without a good alibi."
"I am not Learen. There is no need to worry about me stabbing anyone, that isn't you!" Braelyn watched him turn into his Stag form and rush off. "I swear. Sometimes I don't know if being his friend is a good or a bad thing."
She fitted the key in the lock and listened the the latch clicking. Stepping inside she was astonished. It was pristine inside. The entire place looked as if it had just been thoroughly cleaned. The furniture highly polished. The floor sparkling. There were even a few fresh cut flowers on the small coffee table to her left. Three wooden chairs expertly placed with large comfortable looking throw pillows. All with fine needle point designs. Before her was the kitchen. Dishes of the finest collectable china already hung around the walls.
Braelyn was in awe as she walked up to the small table for two. It had a crochet mat with a silver tea service taking up the majority of the space. "Who would possibly be this perfect?"
The door opened, and she heard a familiar voice, "Goldenleaf, if you track in more mud I swear I am going to kill you."
"Halduron Brightwing?" Braelyn felt her mouth drop open. The blue eyes locking on the blonde Blood Elf Ranger. "They roomed you with Goldenleaf?"
"To my ever lasting misfortune, Yes." Halduron sighed. "it is nice seeing you. Although for loyalty to Rommath, I must ask you to leave."
"You can, but I really can't." Braelyn held up her key. "It appears I have been lucky enough to draw you as my new bunk mate."
"What happened to Goldenleaf?" Halduron shut the door behind him softly.
Braelyn shrugged ,and looked uncomfortably around the room. "He said something about preferring a barn to, well, you."
"I made that suggestion in jest! I never hoped he would actually take me up on it." Halduron moved over to set down a small crate of produce.
"He did take you up on it. Now you have me instead." Braelyn bit her lip as she looked at him.
Halduron shrugged not looking up at her. "I assume you will be the better choice. How do you take your tea? I like a pinch of sugar and a splash of lemon. But seeing as I am living amongst the barbarians as yet, they have no lemon. I had to settle for some nice honey. Although, it's a wildflower blend, and not the pure red leaf clover variety I am used to from Silvermoon."
"I am happy with milk and two tables spoons of sugar." Braelyn spoke up honestly. The idea of having tea with him every morning sounded nice. Maybe the two of them could sneak in some sweet rolls and croissants.
Halduron's head came up slowly to look at her in astonishment. "Did I mishear you? Two tablespoons of sugar? Honestly?"
Braelyn frowned and rose a finger to her lips. "Maybe?"
"By the blessing of the Sunwell, how could you stand something so sweet?" He continued to watched her in amazement.
"If the men around me were a tiny bit sweeter maybe I wouldn't need it?" She moved around him and picked up the crate and started stuffing items in cabinets.
"Wait! No, you are putting those away wrong." Halduron rushed over and took the items from her. He started emptying the shelves. Looking down at her with an impish grin. "I can excuse your mistakes. I have yet to label the cabinets. Don't worry, I should have it done before night fall."
Braelyn gasped. The large blue eyes looked at the Blood Elf Ranger and whispered, "Tell me you are acting this way to drive me off?"
"Drive you off? That would be rude of me. No I just like things tidy. Speaking of which, I already set things out in your room to make it more homey. I thought it was for Goldenleaf, so I went with the nature inspired quilt. I didn't really pack anything fitting for a woman. So it's all brown, blues, and greens. Will that be fine with you?"
Slowly Braelyn nodded, but in her head she was wondering if there was an open stall in the barn near Goldenleaf.